How did the Angkor Empire fall?
PRIMARY SOURCE:
This image is a primary source, showing the fallen Angkor Empire. When looking at the image, the ruins and the long-lengthed tree on the buildings. this proves that the empire wasn't discovered since not long ago. The tree, explains that the treed has lived for over a long time because the roots had almost covered sections of the empire.
SECONDARY SOURCE: http://www.cambodia-travel.com/khmer/ This website is the secondary source, because the information isn't really reliable as for the website did not exist from that time; biased, but this website has really relevant and good information. |
There are also many reasons on how the Angkor Empire had fallen, such as: (Lily)
Introduction of Theravada Buddhism The pillar of the Angkor Civilization was supported by the religious belief of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism. The monarchs being regarded as the god-king were able to motivate the dedication of their people to serve the throne as a divine service. The empire's extensive irrigation system and military troops required massive laborers and manpower to maintain. The introduction of Theravada Buddhism in 13th century to the Khmers had turned out to hurt sublimely the basic foundation of the Angkor Empire in the long run. Theravada Buddhism taught the people to seek self-enlightenment, abandon worldly things and discourage any superstition belief which directly or indirectly means all deities and all evils. The sovereignty of the Angkorian monarch as a "god-king" or deva-raja was basically challenged. Loss of Water Control Less devotion of the people to the "god-king" led negative impact to the empire. The Khmers seem unwilling to work wholeheartedly for the king as a holy service as they had previously did. The formerly efficient irrigation and drainage system became silted up with less water supply and the rice crops, used to be cultivated two or three times a year, were dramatically dropped, thus weaken the productivity and the strength of the Angkor Empire. External Threats As neighboring states of the Angkor grew, they became a major threat to the empire, especially the Thai State of Ayuthaya in the Chaophaya River Basin to the West. In order to protect the empire, the Angkor had to direct portion of its manpower to secure strong armed forces, which in turn, derived itself from giving good maintenance to its irrigation system. Double-edged sword of Roads Network The road network built by Jayavarman VII had aided the transports of products and trades throughout the empire and also facilitated the Khmer troops to quell its neighbors. It had became a double-edged sword when the Angkor became weak as the invaders could easily marched in through this road network, instead of previously sailing up from the Mekong River. This turned out to be true when the newly emerged Ayuthaya, a Thai kingdom in the West became stronger. They use this road to march from the Chaophaya River basin through Phnomrung (in Burirum of modern Thailand) and then through Aranyapathet to attack right at the heart of Angkor and finally sacked the empire in 1431. The glory of the Angkor Civilization was terminated since that time. |
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